Hundreds of companies have pledged to purge deforestation from their supply chains, but most are struggling to deliver in a world where millions of tiny suppliers provide their raw materials. Next week in Jakarta, the Tropical Forest Alliance’s first assembly meeting will address the issue.

2 March 2016 | “Supply chains are vast, complicated intricate things with a lot of moving parts and players,” said Kevin Rabinovitch, the Global Director of Sustainability for candy and food giant Mars. “They are more like webs than chains.”

The TFA is a consortium of governments, companies and organizations with a shared interest in transitioning to zero-deforestation supply chains, and the General Assembly of the Tropical Forest Alliance 2020 is intended to spur an exchange of knowledge and expertise over best practices and methods to achieve sustainable supply chains – which companies are committing to in the form of pledges to make sure they’re not destroying forests to access their raw materials.

Mars, for example, says that 100% of its palm oil, soy, beef, and paper will soon come exclusively from sources that can prove they’re sustainably sourced, and it’s implementing similar limits on its cacao, dairy, pork, and other products.

Mars has emerged as an aggressive member of the RSPO, along with PepsiCo, General Mills, ConAgra , and others that pressured RSPO through the Ceres’ Investor Network on Climate Risk (INCR) to create more rigorous standards. Many of these same companies are active in WWF’s new Markets Institute, which aims to promote the spread of workable solutions to the supply-chain challenge.

Such cooperative initiatives offer assistance in untangling the supply chain web, as Rabinovitch puts it. The supply chain is complex largely because companies like Mars don’t grow their own sugar or cacao. They buy it from hundreds of thousands of producers around the world, most of whom are small-scale subsistence farmers in the developing world. At least 70% of tropical deforestation is from commercial agriculture according to the Forest Trends report “Consumer Goods and Deforestation”.

Tracking Corporate Action on Deforestation

All of the companies in this article have pledged to reduce or eliminate deforestation from their supply chains, and all are listed on Supply-Change.org, but hundreds of companies have made promises, and few have yet reported results.

The platform tracks progress reported against promises made, but it doesn’t evaluate the promises themselves. Some companies may, therefore, report little progress against substantial commitments, while others may report massive progress against minimal objectives, and still others may have achieved results that they simply haven’t announced.

Nevertheless, Supply Change can function as a good barometer of corporate activity, and throughout the year Ecosystem Marketplace will be digging into the numbers to shine a light on the complexities of tackling deforestation on the ground. In the meantime, visit Supply-Change.org to see what actions Mars, PepsiCo, General Mills, ConAgra, APP, Carrefour, and Mondi have reported to-date.

The report, “Realizing Zero Deforestation”, also found that 70% of the 180 companies reporting have commitments in place to remove deforestation from their supply chains.

Where’s the Map?

There isn’t a blueprint or model to follow and so all companies basically lack a clear understanding of how, exactly, to eliminate deforestation, says Aida Greenbury, the Director of Sustainability at Asia Pulp and Paper (APP), which committed to a zero net deforestation policy in 2013.

Rabinovitch agrees, and adds that there isn’t even a clear and common definition for success, which often leads to cumbersome discussions that tie up resources and time.

“Every minute we spend arguing and working out what success looks like and how we can measure it is a minute and a dollar not spent fixing the problem,” he says.

Other challenges are occurring closer to the ground-level. For instance, South African paper company Mondi, which so far has achieved 100% of its commitments tracked by Supply Change.org (you can find the company’s source reporting here), is struggling to find enough certified wood to meet a growing demand as 90% of forests aren’t certified.

CDP’s report tries to offer some clarity, in the form of a five-step “supply chain performance plan”.

The Zero-Deforestation Performance Plan

The five steps outlined in CDP’s proposal are:

Enhance the procurement process: 77% of manufacturers and retailers have procurement policies for sourcing forest-risk commodities, but only 5 of those said they train their procurement teams on these policies.

Communicate expectations: ensuring the suppliers are aware of the buyer’s new standard or target, and also making sure the supplier is not only clear on options but also of the wider benefits of sustainable practices.

Track progress transparently: 80% of companies are still not disclosing deforestation data, let alone monitoring progress. Many of those that do, however, are using advanced technology like satellites and drones to monitor forest loss.

Collaborate to drive progress: companies should join forces forming jointly agreed on targets or creating sustainability projects together and or with their suppliers. Just 13% of retailers and manufacturers are implementing joint projects with their suppliers, the report says.

Review, revisit and reward: follow through and continue with the previous steps, acknowledging where actions were successful and where they failed, and then making alterations accordingly.

“If you really want to avoid deforestation, acting collectively and sharing a similar trajectory is the most important thing. It isn’t a matter of competition,” says Bertrand Swiderski, the Director of Sustainability at Carrefour, the French retail giant, which operates under a sustainability plan focused on biodiversity and includes commitments for deforestation-free timber products and palm oil.